Reneemoon
The captain of our college cheer squad was drowning.
I fought to pull her ashore and performed mouth-to-mouth in front of the entire student body and faculty.
But three days later, she went live, sobbing, and accused me.
"Owen Ellis pushed me into the water... He's wanted to force himself on me for ages!
"He threatened me, too. He said if I didn't sleep with him, he'd post photos of him kissing me on a porn site and ruin me!"
Overnight, I went from a lifesaving hero to a would-be rapist reviled across the internet.
The university expelled me. My parents were doxxed by online mobs, lost their jobs, and both sank into depression.
In my darkest moment, I stood at the same lake where I'd saved her and jumped.
As the water closed over my head, a notification lit up my phone.
The cheer captain was smiling on her livestream as hundreds of thousands of fans flooded the chat. The stream title read:
"A Strong Girl Rises from the Ashes."
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment she started drowning.
She was thrashing in the water, those wet eyes locked on mine, and she cried out.
"Owen... save me..."